Faded memories
by Darth Golondor
Summary: Leo sits by the lake and reflects on his relationship with Piper. Leo/Piper bromance.


Leo was sitting outside by the lake. It has been already two months since he returned from Ogygia with Calypso and almost three months since the end of the war. A lot of things changed since then. Statues of the Seven plus Nico and Reyna were built in honor of them, also the Greeks and the Roman were now really tight. They would visit each other very often. Jason and Percy were the ambassadors of both camps. The gods were now a bit more open to the demigods than before. Considering how they were usual this was an improvement.

Leo took out his wallet and looked at an old picture. It was a picture of Piper and him, just before the whole mist thing with Jason happened. He smiled at the picture. Back then it was just him and Piper. They were the Dynamic Duo always there for each other. He remembered the day when he met her.

* * *

 _Leo was sitting alone at lunch again. He was just caught by the police last week and got send on the Wilderness School. Like always he didn't made any friends. Sure, he joked with some and because he was funny, people often didn't bullied him, but he knew that he couldn't keep his masquerade forever up. He bit in his food. Today it was some rancid meat with some beans. He grimaced as he saw the food. He wanted to take another bite, when he heard a voice._

" _Hey Loser, give me all your money." a evil and dumb voice said._

 _He turned around and saw a huge muscular boy with blond hair. He looked like he couldn't even add up 1+1. And he had a really bad breath._

" _Brad." he said not showing any fear. "You want a piece from this hot boy?" he asked him grinning._

 _Brad didn't looked amused and grabbed him. "Look Guy. You are giving me your money now or I will punch your brain out of your head." he threatened him._

 _Normally people would be scared by this, but Leo had experienced much worse than this guy. He just grinned at him._

" _That's a good idea. You could then stuff my brain in your head, because you have no one." he said cheekily._

 _Brad now looked furious. He then raised his fist. Leo already expected the fist to hit him, when he suddenly heard a voice. "Let him go!"_

 _Brad and Leo both turned around. Leo stared at the girl in front of them. She had choppy brown hair and kaleidoscopic eyes. And she was probably the most beautiful girl that Leo laid an eye on._

" _Sweetie, why are you risking your pretty face for this loser." Brad said smugly. Leo wanted to kick him in the guts in this moment._

 _The girl glared at him. "I said LET HIM GO! AND GET AWAY FROM HIM!" she cried. Her voice was so intense that Leo really believed her._

 _To his surprise Brad let go of him. "You are right." he said then he went away._

 _People in the room where staring at them. After a while they went back to their usual conversations._

 _The girl walked towards him. "You are alright?" she asked._

 _Leo looked at the girl. She didn't have any pretty clothes on as if she was hiding her beauty, but she didn't succeeded in it. She still looked beautiful. He nodded. "Yeah, thanks by the way."_

 _The girl smiled at him. "No problems. I hate bullies like him. I am Piper by the way." she said._

 _Leo shook her hand. "Leo." he said._

 _The girl still smiled at him warmly which made Leo nervous. Nobody ever really smiled at him warmly._

" _Say, do you mind, if I join you at lunch?" she asked._

 _Leo stared at her. This super pretty girl just asked him, not Brad, not Dylan, not some other hot boy, no him to sit at his table._

" _Yeah…of…of course." he said giving her a smiled._

 _Piper beamed at him and sat down. They both talked and joked around for the rest of the lunch. Leo never felt so free around a person since the death of his mother. He knew that this was the start of a beautiful friendship._

* * *

" _Oh god, I can't believe you did that!" Piper said laughing._

" _You bet I did Pipes." Leo responded grinning at her._

 _It has been a month now since the two of them met and they were closer than ever before. It was always the two of them, they were practically inseparable and and they even had their secret handshake._

" _Gods, Coach Hedge must be furious." Piper said wiping some tears away laughing._

 _Leo just grinned. He had just pranked Coach Hedge by putting itching powder in his clothes. Coach Hedge than was for about an hour busy dancing around and scratching his neck. It was hilarious. Then he had manipulated Coach Hedge's megaphone so that every time he wanted to say something the sound of farting came out. This was even more hilarious._

" _Leo, you are a genius." Piper claimed._

 _Leo tugged his shirt. "Well, you know what they say about me. I am a hot and awesome genius." he said smugly playing with his screwdriver._

 _Piper rolled her eyes, but smiled nevertheless. "You know Leo. I'm glad that I met you." she said._

 _Leo almost dropped his tool. He turned to her and just stared at her flabbergasted. After his mothers death nobody really cared for him and now Piper here said that she is glad that she met him._

" _Do…do you mean that?" he asked hesitantly. He expected her to laugh and say that this was just a joke or punch him and walk away laughing, but she just stared at him confused. "Of course, why would I not mean it?" she asked._

 _Leo looked at his screwdriver. "Nobody ever said that to me." he whispered. "I…ever since my mother died nobody ever cared for me."_

 _Piper looked at him sadly. She knew that Leo had a tough past. She didn't knew th details, but she knew enough. She hugged him. "Don't worry Leo. I really meant it. You are the best friend anyone could have." she said._

 _Leo smiled at her. He tried to fight the tears coming out of his eyes. "Thanks, Pipes." he said._

 _Piper smiled at him. "No worries. Say can I tell you a secret?" she asked._

 _Leo looked at her in surprise, but nodded. "Of course Piper. You can tell me anything."_

 _Piper beamed at him. She looked around to make sure nobody was there. "Well…you see…my father is Tristan McLean." she said._

 _Leo blinked. "The famous actor" he asked her._

 _Piper nodded, but she didn't looked very happy._

" _Cool." he said smiling at her._

 _Piper looked at him surprised. "That's it? Cool? No, oh my god Piper, your dad is famous? Or your life must be wonderful?" she said._

 _Leo laughed. "Pipes, just because I know now that your father is famous doesn't mean you are different than before. You are still the Piper I know." he said._

 _Piper smiled at him. "Thanks, Leo. That means much to me."_

 _Leo grinned at her. "No problem Pipes. Say want to see if Coach Hedge is still busy with the itching powder?" he asked._

 _Piper laughed. "Of course! Let's go! Last to be there is a lame person." she said running away._

" _Hey!" Leo cried laughing. "That's unfair!" he cried chasing her._

 _Back then Leo thought that it would be always the two of them. But he shouldn't know that fate had another plan with them._

* * *

 _Leo couldn't really sleep. He should have woken up Piper for her turn to guard them, but he didn't wanted to wake up. It has been a few hours since Leo had defeated the three cyclops. It was the first time since forever he willingly used his fire powers again. Leo looked at the bonfire in front of him. He couldn't help but somehow fear it. Fire has always been a part of his life. And it wasn't a good part. Fire was the thing that had killed his mom. Fire was the thing that ruined his life and ironically fire was his ability._

" _Leo, you are still awake?" a voice said to him._

 _Leo turned around to see Piper looking at him worriedly. He didn't knew when the last time it was he had a real conversation with her. Ever since Jason appeared through the mist, he became the third wheel._

" _Oh hey Piper." he said lazily._

 _Piper still looked at him worriedly. "You should have woke me up two hours ago." she said._

 _Leo looked alarmed. He didn't wanted to tell her what the real reason was. "I guess I missed the time, Beauty Queen." he said._

 _Piper didn't looked like as if she would believe him. "Leo." she said a bit threatening._

" _You know your hair looks messy. What would your mother say about that Beauty Queen?" he teased her trying to get away from the topic._

 _But Piper didn't laughed. She instead crossed her arms and looked at him seriously._

" _What's wrong Leo?" she asked softly._

 _Leo sighed. He didn't liked to talk about his feelings, but this was his best friend._

" _I couldn't sleep." he mumbled._

 _Piper sat next to him. The bonfire crackled in the silence of the night. "Why?"_

" _I…" he hesitated to tell the truth, but then spoke: "I had to think about my fire powers." he said._

 _Piper gave him a look that said that she didn't understand. Leo sighed again. "I am dangerous, okay. My powers are a threat to everyone."he whispered._

 _Piper looked at him in shock. She couldn't believe he would think so. "That is crap Leo and you know that. You are not dangerous and your fire powers are useful." she tried to comfort him, but Leo didn't listen to her._

" _Yes, they are dangerous! My mother died because I couldn't control my damn powers! And you remember what the prophecy said? The world shall fall in storm or fire. I am fire Piper! I am the one that will destroy everything!" he cried. His voice was trembling and his hands were shaking despite the fact that he was sitting beside the bonfire._

 _Piper laid an hand on his shoulder. "Leo, you just saved us with your powers. The death from your mother was not your fault, but Gaia's and don't take the prophecy too serious. I am sure that it means something else." she said soothingly._

" _But what if it means that! God Pipes, I…I couldn't stand hurting you or Jason or the others in the camp. You are the only one beside Jason I still have and we don't know if Jason is even our friend." he cried now tears falling down his cheek._

 _Piper bit into her lip. She didn't liked the fact that Jason was just an imaginary created by the mist. But she hated it even more to see her best friend so down. She hugged him tightly._

" _It will be okay Leo. Let it out." she said patting his back._

 _Leo leaned his head against her chest as tears fell down his cheek. For the first time in forever he felt this close to his best friend again and felt great despite the fact that he was crying. He just hoped that this quest would end soon._

* * *

 _Leo couldn't sleep that night. Well, he hadn't slept that much in the past few months and tonight was one of his sleepless nights again. He had to think about his short time on Ogygia. How he fell in love with the insufferable, but lovely and adorable Calypso and their kiss. For the first time Leo hadn't had the feeling that this was just a stupid crush on a girl that he would never get. No, this time he was rally in love. During the short time he had been on Ogygia he became really close to the Sea Goddess, even telling him about his past, fears and secrets. The girl had driven him crazy and insulted him…and he loved her for that._

 _He walked outside to the ship's stern and to his surprise he saw Piper standing there._

" _Hey Beauty Queen!" he cried._

 _Piper turned around surprised and saw Leo. "Oh, Leo. You are awake?" he asked._

 _Leo grinned at her. "I could ask you the same." he said._

 _Piper sighed at that. "Touché. I couldn't sleep, I guess." she said._

 _Leo frowned at that. He looked at Piper. She didn't really looked tired, more like thoughtful._

" _And why would that be?" he asked her._

 _Piper gave him a small smile. "I had to think about everything going on and Percy and Annabeth." she said sadly._

 _Leo flinched at that. He still didn't got over the fact that Percy and Annabeth had fallen into the Tartarus. And it was all his fault. If he hadn't started this civil war, then nothing of that would have happened._

" _Cheer up, Beauty Queen. I am sure they are fine. I imagine Percy and Annabeth using their awesome fighting skills now on all the monsters there. And Annabeth shocking all the monsters with her wisdom so they will bow in front of her and admire her instead of killing her." he said grinning._

 _But Piper didn't laughed. Her expression stayed serious._

 _Leo sighed. He hated it when the atmosphere was sullen. "Look, Pipes. I am sure they are fine. They will get out and we will defeat Queen Dirt Face." he said._

 _Piper looked like as if she wanted to burst into tears which shocked Leo because she was normally so strong._

" _But what if they don't survive?! What if they die?! What if we lose this war?! Oh Leo…" she said trying not to cry._

 _Leo normally didn't really know what to do in this kind of situations. He was absolutely lost when people cried. But this was his best friend, so he rushed over to her and hugged her._

" _Shhh, it's going to be okay Piper." he said stroking her hair as she cried into his chest. Leo didn't know whether he would survive this war. But he knew for sure that he would do anything to protect Piper. Because she was family._

* * *

 _A few hours. Just a few hours till he would fulfill his destiny and complete his plan. Leo was nervous. He didn't knew if he would survive. Never in his life he had been so nervous, but Leo also knew that he didn't fared death. Lot's of people would be afraid of death and see it as their enemy, but not Leo. Leo saw the dead as his friend. Someone who deliver someone from the pain of this world. Sure his mom had died, but at least she was now in a better place._

 _He walked around and saw Piper standing there watching the landscape._

" _Beautiful, isn't it?" he said as he walked next to her._

 _Piper was surprised for a second by his presense, but then smiled. "Yeah, it's wonderful. Just so sad that this place will be a battlefield in a few hours." she said._

 _Leo nodded. "Yeah, this is the final fight, the ultimate showdown, the one that people will still sing in a thousand years." he said._

 _Piper rolled her eyes. "Seriously Valdez. We are going to fight one of the most ancient and strongest powers on Earth **(pun intended)** and you joke about it?"_

 _Leo grinned at her. "Hey, can't I make a joke about that? I mean this battle will be the end of the Earth." he said grinning at his used pun._

 _Piper rolled his eyes, but smiled. "You are sooo childish, Leo."_

" _That's my nature Beauty Queen." he said grinning._

 _Piper just shook her head amusingly at that and looked back at the landscape._

" _What do you think will happen after the war, if we win?" she asked._

 _Leo scratched his head. He couldn't tell her that he wouldn't probably exist anymore after the war. "Well, I guess a lot of things will going to be rebuilt again and a lot of things will change." he said._

 _Piper didn't respond. Instead she continued to look at the landscape. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, she turned to him._

" _You know Leo, I once told you that I was glad that I met you." she said._

 _ **And now you changed your mind** , Leo thought bitterly._

" _And I still think that. You are the best friend I ever had, even before Jason and you are like the annoying little brother I never wanted." she said smiling._

 _Leo looked at her in shock. She had told him that before, but her words now were so full of emotions and deepness that Leo couldn't help but to be touched by it._

" _Piper…" he whispered._

" _I meant it Leo. Whatever will happen today, I wanted to let you know that I love you little bro." she said smiling at him._

 _Now it took Leo everything not to burst into tears. He grabbed Piper and engulfed her into a bear hug._

" _I love you too, sis." he said kissing her cheek as he continued to hug her._

 _For a while it was just the two of them, then Piper broke up from the hug._

" _I should probably look for Jason now. God knows what he is doing now." she said._

 _Leo laughed at that. "Well, then go for your Superman, Beauty Queen." he said._

 _Piper smiled at him, then turned around walking away. Leo looked after her realizing this could be the last time he would see her._

" _Piper, wait!" he cried._

 _Piper turned around looking at him expectantly. Leo hesitated. There was so much he wanted to say. His plan, how much she meant to him, how he would probably die and how they should move on if he had died, but those thoughts didn't came out of Leo's mouth. He was like paralyzed._

" _I…thanks." he then finally said looking into Pipers kaleidoscopic eyes._

 _Piper looked at bit confused at that, but then smiled. "No problem, Leo." and with that she walked away and Leo knew that this was probably the last conversation he would ever have with his surrogate sister again._

Leo stared at the photo. It brought back good memories. Memories that seemed to be lost somewhere in the death of his mind and memories that seemed to be so long ago, as if already lived over hundred years long.

He flinched a bit when he noticed someone touching his shoulder. To his surprise he saw Piper.

"Beauty Queen! What a surprise to see you." he said.

She smiled at him. "Hey, mind if I sit next to you?" she asked.

Leo shook his head. "Of course not. Come sit." he said.

She took a place next to him. "So how are you?" she asked him.

Leo shrugged. "Good as always." he said. "You?"

"I'm good, just wanted to see my best friend again. Haven't seen you so often anymore." she said.

Leo rubbed his neck nervously at that. "Well, yeah. I was kind of busy in the last time."

Piper nodded. She wanted to say something when she saw the photo of her and Leo. "Is that us?" she said incredulously.

Leo nodded and laughed. "Yeah, that was us back then when we were still an Duo in the Wilderness School. Brings back old memories what?" he asked.

Piper nodded and stared at the picture. "Yea, I kinda missed those times. Just me and you and some pranks on Coach Hedge." she said laughing.

Leo laughed at that. "God, those pranks were genius. Well, they came from this amazhang genius here." he said pointing at himself.

Piper rolled her eyes and playfully punched his arms. "Don't get too full of yourself, Repair Boy." she said.

Leo pouted at that, but still laughed at it. For a while they just sat there in silence, then Piper broke it.

"You know, I always wondered what would have happened, if Jason didn't appeared in our lives." she said.

Leo turned to her surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that, if he would never appeared, then it would be just the two of us. Maybe you would then my boyfriend instead of Jason." she said tossing some stones into the water.

Leo choked at that. "B…boyfriend?" he said flustered.

Piper nodded. "Would be a weird thought what?" she asked.

Leo never thought about that. But now he really did wonder what would have been if Jason was never there. Would he have fallen in love with Piper? Would they have been a pair? Would thy still be best friends?

He looked back to her. Her hair was shining in the sunlight and she looked beautiful like always. Many boys would swoon fro her now, but not Leo. She was his sister and he loved that fact. He didn't needed to think about what could have been, because he now already had the life he wanted.

"Nah, I would rather jump into the lake now than be your boyfriend." he said gagging.

Piper looked insulted, but then smirked. "Oh, you like to jump in the lake, what?" she asked evilly.

Before Leo could realize what happened, Piper pushed him into the Lake. He immediately got wet and then looked at Piper in shock.

"Hey! What the Hades, Beauty Queen?" he asked incredulously.

Piper smirked. "That what you get for insulting me and my girlfriend skills."

Leo glared at her, but then broke out in laughter. "Oh now you are on it." he cried as he dragged her by the feet into the lake.

Piper shrieked, but then landed in the water too. "Valdez, that means war!" she cried as she splashed him with water laughing.

For the next few hours it was just the two of them splashing water at each other and having fun. Leo knew that his life could be better, but he also knew that he wasn't alone anymore. He had friends now, a family, an amazing girlfriend and a best friend a.k.a sister, that will always be there for him.

 **And this oneshot is done! I just love Piper/Leo bromance. Their relationship is awesome and I hate how Rick didn't made more of it. I always thought their friendship was really underrated. I mean they were best friends before the demigod thing started. That's why I made a small oneshot about their amazing friendship. Personally, I am not that a big fan of Liper romance, but it is okay, but Caleo is still the best (besides Solangelo). Please review it. I really hope you liked this oneshot.**


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